Giants’ GM Joe Schoen admits wishing he had more free agency money to spend

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen admitted Monday that he would have been more aggressive in free agency if he had the financial resources available to do so.

“Could we have done better? Yeah, if we had $40 million in cap space, yeah,” Schoen said. “With what we had, I think we executed a plan. We were able to upgrade the roster with the resources we had.”

Schoen entered his first free agency saying he would have to take a “very calculated” approach to adding to the roster. Aside from starting guard Mark Glowinski (three years, $18.3 million) and backup quarterback Tyrod Tyrod (two years, $11 million) Schoen signed a plethora of players to one-year minimum or veteran salary benefit contracts, generally referred to as “prove it” deals.

The first-year GM had to trim a lot of payroll to even do that, including letting go of starting cornerback James Bradberry. He also got veterans Sterling Shepard and Blake Martinez to accept pay cuts and restructured the contract of Adoree’ Jackson.

The Giants could be far more aggressive in 2023 free agency. This number can change drastically between now and next March, especially with the Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley situations to resolve, but as of today Over The Cap shows the Giants with $54.17 million in space with an estimated $225 million 2023 cap.

Schoen also admitted to the Post that he will be a “nervous wreck” during training camp.

“As roster attrition sets in, that’s stressful, because there’s 90 guys on 32 rosters, there’s only so many players out there at each position that can still function in a camp,” Schoen said. “It’s always very stressful for me.

“You’re watching the football but you also want to make sure you have enough bodies that you can practice and you want enough competition where guys have to put their best foot forward. It’s a delicate balance between guys getting enough work in and being ready to play and contact and also keeping everybody healthy. We’ve got a really good sports science department, medical department, they’ve been working closely with [Brian] Daboll on the practice schedules. I think we got a good plan in place.”

Valentine’s View: Filling 90-man rosters may not seem that difficult. There are always players looking for a chance. Filling those rosters with competent players who, as Schoen says can “function in a camp, ” provide real competition, and help get you ready for the season is the tricky part.